Cocktail World Cup to shake up Queenstown
26 Jul 2007
The phrase ‘shaken not stirred’ will take on a whole new meaning when some of the world’s top bartenders gather in Queenstown from 9 - 15 September for the Olympics of the cocktail world.
The 42 BELOW Cocktail World Cup is into its fourth year, and this year will see teams competing from UK, US, Australia, Asia, Ireland, Canada, Spain, and Dubai and they’ll be up against 42 of New Zealand’s best bartenders.
Contestants are judged on a range of skills - including the ability to shake a Cosmopolitan while bungy-jumping, create a cocktail while jet-boating down a river and mix a Martini on top of the Remarkables. The grand final takes place on Saturday 15 September in Queenstown’s Earnslaw Park, where the teams go head to head in a spectacular shake-off, in front of a crowd of thousands.
It will be a week of extreme mixology, culminating in the creation of entirely original cocktails that have the potential to become new global classics. Last year salsa, oysters, tobacco, yams, toasted pinecones and lemongrass ‘caviar’ were all on the menu.
This year, the contestants will be judged by an illustrious panel of international experts including legendary US mixologist Dale DeGroff (www.kingcocktail.com).
Dale DeGroff - author of The Craft Of The Cocktail - is known as the 'King of Cocktails' and is a familiar face on US TV as a guru of cocktail culture. He developed his extraordinary techniques at famous establishments such as New York's Rainbow Room, and has responsible for the creation of many award-winning cocktail classics.
42 BELOW Chief Vodka Bloke Geoff Ross says the 2007 Cup is set to be bigger and better than ever.
‘Each year I’m continually surprised at the incredible calibre of entrants,’ Geoff says.
‘The 2006 CWC was a landmark competition. For the first time in its history, the Cup was won by a hot cocktail recipe when the UK2 team (dressed as Benedictine monks) created a cocktail based on a medieval drink called a posset for their winning entry.
‘It just goes to show anything goes - and we look forward to the envelope being pushed even further this year.’
Further information:
Jen Ferguson
Pead PR
Phone +64 9 918 5558
Mobile +64 21 610 788
Email jen@peadpr.co.nz
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